🚀 go-pugleaf

I found the headline a little strange at first.
"Asian Economy Set to Surpass Japan ".
Isn't Japan part of Asia, or do they now want to talk about India/Pakistan
like the English/British press often term India as Asia?
Oh they mean the rest of Asia to surpass Japan. Ok I get it..

--article extract here---

Asian Economy Set to Surpass Japan
Thursday, December 29, 2005

SINGAPORE
For the first time in more than three decades Japan's economy, the world's second largest, is set to be surpassed in size by the rest of Asia.

That milestone, says Lehman Brothers economist Robert Subbaraman, signals the arrival of the Asian consumer as a key growth driver and probably marks the turning point for Asia's export-led economic model.

While only a small number of Asia's more than 3 billion people are moving up to middle-class income levels, analysts say the numbers are growing faster than any other region worldwide, fuelling a consumption boom.

"A sea change is happening in terms of growth of the middle class in Asia," said Yuwa Hedrick-Wong, economic adviser to Mastercard International which tracks consumer trends in Asia.

"More and more people are shifting from consumption for basic necessities to discretionary consumption — like taking a holiday abroad, going out to restaurants, visiting malls."

Hedrick-Wong describes the Asian middle class as those who earn more than $5,000 per year. As many as 80 million people in China, 15 million in Thailand, 12 million each in India and Indonesia, 9 million in Malaysia and 6 million in the Philippines make the grade by that measure.



Mike Ang
www.mikeang.net/light
(do read this little poem that brightens one up on any cloudy day or year)
I also have some items to pass to you that could help you in the new year.
One already achieved, the other is a great POSSIBILITY (at bottom of my link)

source: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,180064,00.html

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